Monday, December 30, 2013

1. Acknowledge the nominating blogger. 2. Share 11 random facts about yourself.3. Answer the 11 questions the nominating blogger has created for you.4. List 11 bloggers.5. Post 11 questions for the bloggers you nominate to answer, and let all the bloggers know they have been nominated. Don’t nominate a blogger who has nominated you.

My undergraduate degree is in Communications.I love photography and began taking photos in high school.I have been writing music since I was 10 years old.My exercise schedule is usually 7 days a week, at least 40 minutes and as much as 1 hour.I love hummus and eat it for breakfast Monday-Friday.Little things make me happy.I have a great sense of humor.I am left-handed.I grew up in Inwood, in northern Manhattan, across the street from Inwood Hill Park and Columbia University's football stadiumMy favorite group is Earth, Wind and FireI love animals and always support worthy causes for them

3. Answers to the 11 questions Linda has created for me:

What makes you happy? (Be as serious or as light as you like.)Having a good time with friends, being by the ocean, curling up with a good book on a rainy day.

Extroverted or introverted? Believe it or not, a little of both.

ereader or paper? Paper. I love to feel and turn the pages of a book. The only time I use my Kindle is to download and read a very large book.

Favorite book? (Or your latest favorite book or one of your favorite books) My latest favorite book is The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein. (I told you I love animals..)

Mac or pc? Mac since the late 80's!!

What's your favorite web-based tool? Google Docs

Who do you admire? Too many to list

Dogs or cats, or other, or none? I have two cats, but will add a dog once I'm no longer working full time.

Where do you see yourself in 20 years? Living in a different state and working part time.

The number one New Year's resolution is to lose weight, yet our health is something we should be concerned about 365 days a year. If you teach health or coach a sport, (or you just want to take care of your health) here are a bunch of resources you should consider. (The infographics have been added to the INFOGRAPHICS tab at the top of this page and the rest of the links have been added to the PE and Health page)

This year's vote tabulation was handled by the app Listly. I don't believe it was the best choice. I was told that it was chosen to share a new app, but people complained that it was constantly loading incorrectly, crashed in the browser and had problems when used with Internet Explorer. And that's just the beginning. The voting process was not an easy one for the average person; many steps were involved. If a person didn't have a Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Gmail account they couldn't vote. Many people did not like the idea of giving Listly personal access to their contacts and more. Votes lost there. Isn't Listly for making lists? Was this app in the Beta stage, and that's why there were so many issues? Here's a sample of what I heard from people:

"What is "Listly" and why would I want to give it permission to access my FB info such
as my Friends list and profile...or my GMail info? I'll look at this after dinner but I'm not
keen on allowing 3rd party access. I had to "allow" a zillion permissions in my Firefox
NoScript app to even get to where I could see everything."

"i am trying to vote but doing get it at all, it says vote now, i click on it, there is a drop
down menu of bunch of awards but nothing on where to vote! sorry"

"That's the problem. It says you are done, but you have to click the triangle again. But it got stuck and wouldn't go back to the screen. I think there is something fishy going on!"

"I have no idea how to vote for you. I tried to do this 4 times and give up. Maybe it's not compatible with my Apple computer? There is no list of names. I can't click on the photo & get anything. All I get is some "Listy List" that wants me to join."

"I have been trying but it seems to take a lot of registration before you get to vote. Am I doing something wrong?"

"I don't want to sign into the site. If there is a way to vote without signing in I would do it. "

"I did it & clicked the#again after the window closed but the # hasn't changed from 15. X#0&@*"

"I keep trying to vote and it will not let me, no triangle on my computer I have been going insane all week trying."Here are two different opinions on the Edublog Awards:Why the Edublog Awards Matter- from the Cat's Pajamas blogWhy I Dislike the Edublog Awards- Tim Holt has strong feelings about the Edublog Awards
This comment was made in response to Holt's posting and it pretty much sums what I said I expected to "win" at the conclusion of the voting:

I agree with everything you say, except I don't :) I don't look at the eddies as a contest to win, I see it as a way to expose others to people they may not have access to otherwise.The main value of the awards is the nomination process. People nominate people and anyone can do it. It only makes sense that a person that has a lot of followers gets nominated. I myself have nominated many times in the past, but I always nominated much smaller followed sites or less well known people. This gives them exposure they otherwise would not have had. I have nominated several relatively unknown people who have become much better known. How else would this have been accomplished without the eddies?I struggle with the idea of self promotion too and still haven't decided where I stand. I do not have a problem pushing the #comments4kids hash tag though because the more exposure it gets the better it works for the kids. I don't think that it promotes me at all.So see, I agree with you, except I don't :)

I have my own theory on how the voting process should take place. Instead of turning it into a popularity contest, (who can get the most people to vote for them) why not have a committee of educators pick the winners? The nomination process should stay the same, (you cannot nominate yourself) and those people would be short-listed for the final awards. Just a thought. Still, I am thrilled to have won in my category and look forward gaining more followers and connecting with more people via Twitter, Facebook and this blog. How do you feel about this year's voting? Leave a comment below.

Sunday, December 29, 2013

Now that I have finally gotten to slow down and relax on my vacation, I wanted to take a moment to thank everyone who voted for my blog. I am very excited about winning the Edublog for Best Library Blog, but my reasons for wanting it might surprise you. During the voting phase, many of my students (and some friends) asked me what I would win as a prize. I told them that I wanted to expand my Internet presence as a media specialist and educator, and that I would be able to place the "winner" badge on my blog. My hope is that people who have never heard of me would give the blog a chance. Not sure if the students got it, but my friends sure did. Today's world is fueled by social media, and although I know I have an awesome blog, there are many others I continually learn from and respect, including Gwyneth Jones, Joyce Valenza, Tiffany Whitehead, Jennifer LaGarde, Nikki D. RobertsonandShannon Miller. If you are a teacher-librarian or media specialist, you should be following their blogs.